"Nutrition": a program to facilitate the calculations of the composition of menus and diets

The methodology used to build a software program to compute the nutrient composition of menus and diets is discussed. Topics as the variability of food composition, the scarcity of local food composition data, the bias that may be incurred in nutrient data of food consumption studies are extensively discussed and also the possible solution through the software program. All of these topics must be taken into account in epidemiological studies as well as in computing diet composition.     

SPROUT: a program for structure generation

SPROUT is a new computer program for constrained structure generation that is designed to generate molecules for a range of applications in molecular recognition. It uses artificial intelligence techniques to moderate the combinatorial explosion that is inherent in structure generation. The program is presented here for the design of enzyme inhibitors. Structure generation is divided into two phases: (i) primary structure generation to produce molecular graphs to fit the steric constraints; and (ii) secondary structure generation which is the process of introducing appropriate functionality to the graphs to produce molecules that satisfy the secondary constraints, e.g., electrostatics and hydrophobicity. Primary structure generation has been tested on two enzyme receptor sites; the p-amidino-phenyl-pyruvate binding site of trypsin and the acetyl pepstatin binding site of HIV-1 protease. The program successfully generates structures that resemble known substrates and, more importantly, the predictive power of the program has been demonstrated by its ability to suggest novel structures.     

Intratumoral cisplatin/epinephrine-injectable gel as a palliative treatment for accessible solid tumors: a multicenter pilot study

Intratumoral injections of cisplatin/epinephrine-injectable gel were administered weekly for 4 weeks in 45 patients with malignant tumors of various histologic types. Tumors were located on the skin and subcutaneous tissue primarily of the head, neck, and trunk, and on the tongue, oral pharynx, and esophagus. Patients were not candidates for surgery, radiation, or systemic chemotherapy. Each of the treated tumors (n = 82) was evaluated 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the final injection. The initial dose of cisplatin was 1 mg/cm3 tumor volume, with escalation to 6 mg/cm3 allowed, depending on observed toxicities. The mean cumulative dose per patient for the four treatments ranged from 0.56 to 380 mg cisplatin. No dose-limiting cisplatin-related toxicities, such as nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, or ototoxicity, were observed. The overall objective tumor response rate was 50% (41 of 82), with 40% (33 of 82) complete responses and a median response duration of 160 days. Complete responses for adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were 58% (21 of 36) and 38% (12 of 32), respectively. These results justified further clinical trials to evaluate the role of local chemotherapy with intratumoral cisplatin/epinephrine-injectable gel in the palliative treatment of patients with selected accessible solid tumors.     

Denaturant m values and heat capacity changes: relation to changes in accessible surface areas of protein unfolding

Denaturant m values, the dependence of the free energy of unfolding on denaturant concentration, have been collected for a large set of proteins. The m value correlates very strongly with the amount of protein surface exposed to solvent upon unfolding, with linear correlation coefficients of R = 0.84 for urea and R = 0.87 for guanidine hydrochloride. These correlations improve to R = 0.90 when the effect of disulfide bonds on the accessible area of the unfolded protein is included. A similar dependence on accessible surface area has been found previously for the heat capacity change (delta Cp), which is confirmed here for our set of proteins. Denaturant m values and heat capacity changes also correlate well with each other. For proteins that undergo a simple two-state unfolding mechanism, the amount of surface exposed to solvent upon unfolding is a main structural determinant for both m values and delta Cp.     

MedCalc: a new computer program for medical statistics

Encystation of Entamoeba invadens IP-1 strain trophozoites was induced in low glucose medium (LG). The numbers of trophozoites, cysts and nuclei per cyst were determined; excystation of detergent-resistant axenic cysts was induced in both BI-S-33 and LG media. It was found that after 48 and 72 h of incubation in LG, cyst production was higher than trophozoites inoculated, 90 and 65% of those cysts being morphologically viable, respectively, as differentiation proceeded cysts became tri- and tetranucleated.E. invadens cysts were able to excyst either in BI-S-33 or LG media. There were no differences in growth kinetics when amebic cultures from cysts excysted in BI-S-33 were compared with parent strain. On the contrary, lower yields of trophozoites were achieved with amebas excysted and further cultured in LG medium, but they were able to grow and simultaneously undergo mass encystation. This, as well as other evidence, suggests that E. invadens trophozoites are able to modulate their physiology according to the nutrients and other factors available in the medium, in order to accomplish, growth, encystation or simultaneous growth and mass encystation. Induction of life cycle of pathogenic amebas under axenic conditions can provide answers to inhibit encystment and/or excystment.     

Electromagnetic force calculations for a conical coil

Levitation melting devices used in the laboratory typically employ small conical coils with a reverse wound turn at the top. The magnetic field and the Lorentz forces on an electrically conducting sample, due to an alternating current flowing in a small conical coil, are studied by modeling it as a conical helix. These are compared with the results obtained by using the ‘stack model’ of the coil. The influence of the semiangle and pitch of the coil on the field and the field gradient is studied. Further, it is shown that the stack model overestimates the field (and by extension the Lorentz force) at the bottom of the coil. The results obtained by using the stack and helix models are shown to match in the limit of vanishing pitch of the coil.     

Participant reactions to a cognitive-behavioral guided self-help program for binge eating: developing criteria for program evaluation

This article evaluates the effectiveness of a telephone-based guided self-help program for women who binge eat. We report how key program components (e.g., phone sessions, the self-help book) contribute to the four self-help goals identified in the clinical literature: (1) decrease isolation/increase support; (2) increase knowledge of the problem; (3) broaden coping skills; and (4) improve self-esteem. Using the example of our feasibility study, we illustrate that even minimal interventions create a relational context which can promote entry into and engagement with treatment. We conclude that program evaluation should include not only traditional measures of outcome (e.g., reduction in symptomatology), but utilize outcome measures related to the specific goals of minimal interventions (e.g., changes in help-seeking behavior).     

Analysis of ocular surface area for comfortable VDT workstation layout

This paper proposes a comfortable visual display terminal (VDT) workstation layout based on an analysis of ocular surface area (OSA). A large OSA induces eye irritation and eye fatigue because the eye surface is highly sensitive to various stimuli. The authors considered that OSA must be one of the useful indices of visual ergonomics and applied it to evaluate VDT workstation layout. Each subject was asked to perform a word processing task using four different VDT workstation layouts. It was found that the main factor affecting OSA was not cathode ray tube (CRT) height itself but the distance between the CRT and keyboard. Thus the following workstation layout is recommended to realize comfortable VDT operation: (1) the desk height should be adjusted to the user's height; and (2) the CRT display should be set closer to the keyboard to provide a smaller OSA.     

EasyMA: a program for the meta-analysis of clinical trials

Primary malignant melanoma of the mucosa of the nasal and paranasal sinuses is rare, difficult to treat, and usually has a poor prognosis. Seven cases, six women and one man (mean age 76.5 years), were treated at the Hospital 12 de Octubre (Madrid, Spain) during the period 1982-1994. The presenting symptoms, diagnostic evaluation, morphology, therapeutic modalities, histological evaluation, and clinical course were reviewed. Three patients were treated surgically and three received palliative irradiation. All had local recurrence or distant metasfases within 15 months after concluding treatment. The seventh patient refused treatment.